My goldfish..:[ and poor English, lack of
useful info. re goldfish 5/15/06 I am so glad I
stumbled upon your guy's webs site. See, I have looked
everywhere for an answer to my Fancy goldfishes problem. he has a flaky
white sore looking thing forming right above his mouth. He has had it
for about 3 days now. At first I thought it was some form of
Ick so I treated him with Ick Care by Jungle fish care <...
toxic> yet nothing has happened. I am beginning to get worried. He
is a very large healthy fish. By large I mean fat. He is 5in long, 3in
tall, and 3in wide. [thought I would give you some insight on his
size.] <Good> He swims around the tank like a normal fish and
never really stays in one place, he eats a lot, and his gills move in a
normal steady pace. His eyes are a good clear silver color and his
skin/scale/fins do not show any discoloration. All in All I am lost for
an answer as to why my healthy fish has a white bumpy mass growing on
his forehead. <I'm lost too... you provide nothing in the way of
this animal's system, maintenance, feeding, water
quality/testing... can't read minds... quite> [It kind of looks
like what shrimp look like when you cook them in a pan. You know how
their meat becomes white and tough looking.] Please
help me. If you need I can send a picture.
Thank you so much in advance, from both my gold
fish Pudge, and me Shauna <Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/gldfshsystems.htm
and the linked files at top. Bob Fenner>

Lump on floating goldfish??? No useful info.
5/14/06 Hi my name is Rhonda and I have a very sick goldfish. I
had him in a fish tank and he got septicemia and quite sick. I
medicated him with triple sulfa tablets and he seemed to get
better. My tank was too small for him (35 gallon) so put him in a
large pond with Koi fish. <Not a good mix...> 2 months later
he got sick again and has been floating on his side for about 2
weeks and not being able to eat very much due to having no balance.
I have put him back in the fish tank by himself and am giving him
the triple sulfa tablets again but not sure if it is septicemia
this time. <Depends on the root/cause of this condition> He
has a large lump on the side of him which is the side that is
sticking out of the water. He has lost most of his grey color and
has turned white except for the ends of his fins. There is a small
amount of pink/reddish color on the lump. The lump is not growing
on the outside of his belly but actually under his belly. I have
attached some photos for you to see what I'm talking about. Any
help here would be great as I really don't want to lose him. At
what point should I consider euthanasia?? I don't want him to
have to suffer. Thanks for your help, Kind regards Rhonda Briggs.
<Ummm, no information on foods/feeding, water quality,
maintenance, set-up... Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/gldfshmalnut.htm
and the linked files at top. Bob Fenner>

A question about Goldfish feces -
05/10/2006 Good Evening, Crew. <<Hello, Alfredo. Tom
again.>> I have 2 goldfish, a small Ryukin and a small Lionhead,
in a 50 litre tank. They are kept at 26 degrees and have a hang-on
filter, a powerhead, and an undergravel filter. <<Still have the
UGF? Pull it out, my friend. Old technology and likely to lead to more
problems.>> I feed them once a day and never more than their eye
volume (by the way, is it the volume of one or two eyes?).
<<One.>> Their diet consists of brine shrimp, thawed
skinless peas, and sinking pellets. <<Consider adding some
flake food here. High in vitamins and other "good
stuff".>> Today's water test readings are as follow
: Ammonia : 0 Nitrite: 0 pH: 7. Nitrate: 5 <<All good.>> I
noticed today that the Ryukin was producing a long, transparent feces
that floated to the top as if filled with air. Is this normal?
<<No, it's not. Should be short and dark.>> If not,
please tell me how to fix the problem. <<A change in diet may do
the trick. If not, Metronidazole for internal infection may be in order
here.>> I love my goldfish very, very much. Thank You, Alfredo
Echeverria Ripstein <<De nada. Tom>>
Re: a question about Goldfish feces -revisited -
5/11/06 <<Hi, Alfredo.>> I appreciate your quick reply,
Tom. I am sorry to bother you again. What change (as you suggest below)
should I make in the goldfish's diet? <<Never a bother
to help. There are high-quality flake foods formulated for Goldfish
that you might try adding to your pets' diets. These are enhanced
with vitamins and should be fairly high in carbohydrates. Goldfish
don't digest proteins particularly well.>> Should I medicate
right away or should I change the diet first and await results? I am
scared that if I wait it would be too late, or that the condition
might worsen. <<I don't like to recommend medicating a fish
when the "condition" may not be a direct result of an
infection. The "flip side" to this is that it's far
easier to medicate a fish with food than treating the tank water.
Actually, it's better overall for the fish since treating the water
for internal problems is not the better of the two options.>> As
always, I appreciate your help tremendously. Thank you. Alfredo
Echeverria Ripstein <<Again, any time, Alfredo. Tom>>
Re: Goldfish feces and something more - 05/15/06
Hello, Tom. <<Good afternoon, my friend.>> I have asked for
both kinds of medicated food through the internet, the jungle
Anti-parasite and the anti-bacteria. <<Got both of them, myself,
Alfredo. ;)>> Sorry to bother you with more questions---
<<Oh, stop! Why do you think I'm here? :)>> Today I
noticed that my little Lionhead goldfish has a tiny white spot (about
the size of the head of a pin) on her fleshy Lionhead, above her eye.
Next to it is an even smaller white dot. I found it because it
contrasts with the red colouring of her head and the rest of her
reddish body. <Sounds suspicious but, go on...>> I
doubt that it is Ich because it is too big and in the wrong place, from
what I have read. Might it be a little wound or something of the sort?
<<Certainly might be, Alfredo, but I'd still be thinking Ich.
The parasites are "opportunistic" and don't really care
where they "land". If the "spots" are about the
size of a grain of salt, more or less, it's a good bet that
it's Ich.>> I dissolved 3 quarters of a tablespoon of
aquarium salt and put it into the tank. What is this? What
should I do to help her? <<Raise the heat of the water -
carefully and slowly - to above 80 degrees. 83-84 degrees would be as
high as you should go. Increase the salt solution to 2-3 tablespoons
per five gallons of tank water. Maintain this level until Lucy has
shown no signs of "white spots" and, then, for at least three
days after the spots have disappeared. (Some would advocate a longer
period of treatment, as would I, but, we're not certain here.
Let's err on the side of caution.>> I appreciate your
kindness and help; so does Lucy the Lionhead. Alfredo <<My best
to Lucy, Alfredo, and, of course, to you. :)>>
Re: Goldfish feces--- continued - 05/19/2006 Hi,
Tom. <<Hi, Alfredo.>> I am terribly sorry to be
bothering you again, I don't mean to appear to be taking advantage
of your kindness. <<No apology necessary at all,
Alfredo.>> I decided to add a well served tablespoonful of Epsom
salts to the aquarium in hopes of helping Mimi. She began passing feces
shortly after adding the salts and has begun to swim with somewhat
greater ease around her home. <<Excellent. Good to hear
this.>> Just for the record, the readings from the water tests
are all excellent (including ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and pH).
I fed Mimi very sparingly today, a little piece of a skinless
pea. I haven't seen her pass any bowel movements today and am
wondering if I should add another spoonful of Epsom to get rid of
any possible left over bloatiness or constipation (given that I only
added 1 of a possible 2 spoons). <<You might try this. It
certainly won't hurt her although the pea should serve the same
purpose.>> If so, should I syphon first to get any leftovers out?
<<I wouldn't vacuum at this point. Let's keep the full
effect of the Salts working for her.>> The white dot on
Lucy's head has disappeared (I haven't medicated with regular
aquarium salts and heat as you suggested from fear of stressing Mimi
when the bloatiness showed up yesterday) and in it's stead there is
a red dot. Might this be a wound as I originally suspected? I thought I
could discern a little red line inside her translucent Lionhead
connected at the point where the red dot is visible on the exterior of
her Â´LionheadÂ´. Does this sound like a parasite
by any stretch? <<By way of information, when an encysted
parasite bursts out and falls off a fish, there will be a wound left on
the flesh of the animal. A healing wound is almost always black in
color while red suggests that the wound is "fresh". This is
not a 100% guarantee of Ich but is 100% consistent with the indications
of it. The 'red line' is probably directly connected with the
wound and not of great concern unless you start to see a number of
these displaying on your pet. That would suggest Septicemia to me but
let's not jump ahead of ourselves.>> I don't know how to
combine treatments for these guys and I am still waiting for the
medicated food to make it here to Mexico. <<When Ich is
suspected, the salt/heat treatment is almost unanimously the preferred
method among us at WWM. It's highly effective and carries the
collateral advantage of aiding in healing of any wounds your fish might
have. It also assists the fish in breathing by increasing the uptake of
oxygen through the gill membranes. In short, this treatment is far less
stressful, if stressful at all, to the fish than the condition
you're treating for would be. As for combining treatments, nothing
that I've ever come across suggests that salt treatments can't
be performed in conjunction with the use of Metronidazole for internal
parasitic infection.>> I appreciate your patience and your
kindness, Tom. Thank you very much. <<As always, Alfredo, I'm
more than happy to help whenever possible.>> Alfredo
<<Be well, my friend. Tom>>

Dying Goldfish - 5/9/2006 Please help - ill
goldfish upsetting the family! <<I shall try.>> We have two
goldfish in goldfish bowl they are small fancy type (don't know the
name). <<Goldfish do not belong in bowls. Please read:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/gldfshsystems.htm.>>
The water is not filtered and I am waiting since water change to take
some into local fish store to get it tested. <<Please get these
guys into a proper filtered setting.>> We have changed water
completely in past since having not been advised to do a 25% change
every week to keep balance. <<There are many more pressing issues
at play here.>> Regular tap water has been used. We do
have a water softener - would softened water be better for 25% change?
<<Not important now. Your fish will surely perish if
not in a cycled, filtered aquarium soon.>> The goldfish look ill
and lay on side at bottom. They are feeding fine but
I've noticed colour change as some scales look less orangey now,
and one of the fish has a black patch behind its eye. I have
no idea what to do to help them and they seem to be getting worse - or
at least definitely not getting better. They feed on normal
flaked fish food and have a good oxygenating plant in the bowl which is
of good size for them. <<They are suffering from ammonia/nitrite
poisoning. Read: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/gldfshmalnut.htm,http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/gldfshdisease.htm.
This is an environmental problem. Please read here on
cycling: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwestcycling.htm. Lisa.>>

Gas Bubble Trouble 5/9/06 Dear Mr.
Fenner, <<Bob's enjoying a "swim-about" right now,
Victoria. Tom with you.>> After reading through as much of your
helpful website as possible, I believe that my fancy goldfish Mr. Kiko
is suffering terribly from Gas Bubble Disease [Emphysematosis] but I am
unsure and I would desperately like to help him. Here are the facts: -
1 x fancy goldfish (have had him in this tank for about 2 years
now...his mate passed away about 1 year ago, I think, in retrospect,
due to changing too much water too often and pH differences but Mr.
Kiko survived, thankfully.) - Home: Reef One Bio Orb 10 gallon aquarium
(30 litres) which seems to be running as per normal with 1 live
standard green aquarium plant which the fish nibbles on or pulls out
from time to time. - Filter: Normal bubbling up through central
tube. Some bubbles sitting on surface but no scum or fine
bubbles appear to be forming on Plexiglas surface. <<The bubbles
"sitting" on the surface should break very quickly - within
seconds. If not, this might be an indication of dissolved organics in
the water. You might try feeling the surface water with your fingers to
see if it has a "soapy" feel to it.>> - Location:
Melbourne, Australia where it is currently winter and water is cooler
then normal. <<This can contribute since gases are more soluble
in colder water.>> - Feeding: 2 x sinking pink pellets daily in
evening or substitute with 1 x thawed green pea at least once a week. -
pH: Reading just over 7 - No other accurate measurements currently
available as local fish store staff sadly lack knowledge and any
'care factor'. - Maintenance: includes regular replacement of
cartridge as specified by manufacturer as well as regular partial water
changes. <<All sounds pretty standard, Victoria, though I do wish
you had access to readings for your water parameters. Having read
through your post, they may, or may not, be of real help but it's
always nice to have them available. Let's go on...> Symptoms: -
Has been floating upside down at surface for a few months now when no
one is around to bother him but if you come near the tank he rights
himself and swims around just fine. <<This would seem to rule out
swim bladder problems.>> - Particularly after feeding, fish is
often last seen gasping at surface before flipping over to float upside
down. - A couple of small clear bubbles protruding from sides of body
underneath scales. Similar bubbles appeared about 3 months
ago. I put a general aquarium antibiotic treatment in (half
a crushed dissolved pill) as well as Epsom salts which seemed to get
rid of bubbles temporarily however they are back again and the swimming
issues are perpetuating. <<These last two symptoms are, indeed,
consistent with Gas Bubble Disease.>> - Generally appears a bit
pine-cone like but has for some time now (more than a year and local
fish store tells me this is normal for fancies). <<Well, if this
has existed for a year, I would concur with your LFS...to an
extent.>> - Still always keen to eat. - Breathing appears to be
normal - no other obvious symptoms. I hope this is enough detail to
assist you. I would be very grateful for your thoughts on
what the problem is and advice on how I may remedy. I feel
so terrible thinking that this little creature is in a lot of pain.
<<The quick remedy for the "tank" is more aeration. An
air pump with one or two airstones will help "de-saturate"
the tank of undissolved gases, which appear to be causing the original
problem. A second method would be to prepare water for water changes
and let it sit for a day, or so, to allow these undissolved gases to
dissipate prior to adding the water to the tank. You can also,
gradually, raise the temperature of the water that your pet is living
in to about the mid-70's F. (24 degrees C.). Air/gases are less
soluble in warm water than in cold and Goldfish can do very well in
temperatures in this range. (72-76 degrees F./22-24 degrees C. is
really a good range for Goldfish and, by "tropical fish"
standards, this is cold.) Now, the important issue is Mr. Kiko. We
can't "decompress" him by any method that I'm aware
of but we must take the pressure off of him internally until he
naturally "out-gasses", i.e. reaches equilibrium pressure
with his tank. I'd like you to "fast" your pet for three
days. No food whatsoever. Also, no water changes. He'll be fine
without either for this time. I'm hoping that he'll
"skinny down" a bit to relieve the pressure placed on his
bloodstream and organs and, just perhaps, lose the pine-cone
appearance. Obviously, I want you to keep a close eye on him and, if
all seems well, feed him a thawed/shelled pea the first day back on
food. (Shouldn't stay with him long.) After this, if all seems
well, start him, slowly, back on his normal diet. Implement the
aeration/water change procedures I spoke of and, I'm confident
(with a little "good luck" mixed in) that Mr. Kiko will be
good as new.>> Thank you very much in advance for your kind
dedication to the little guys. <<I can't say I don't have
my fingers crossed for both you and your pet, Victoria, but that's
my best advice.>> Victoria <<Tom>>
Re: Gas Bubble Trouble - 05/22/2006 Hi Tom.
<<Hello, Victoria.>> Thank you so much for your quick and
extremely informative reply to my email. You are all
fantastic! <<For all of us, I thank you for the kind
words.>> Mr. Kiko was looking much improved there for a while
with less feeding so I did not implement all of your suggestions until
just recently when he relapsed quite severely. I was hoping
that less was more for the little guy but obviously was very
wrong. He now has an air bubble protruding about 5mm out of
his left side. The pine coning seems to be worse and upon a
closer inspection of his right side and tail area I notice a severe
build up of smaller bubbles which appears to be affecting the function
of his back tail. <<We might be fighting a couple of problems
here, Victoria. Not particularly unusual but it's not something we
like to deal with, either.>> Furthermore, it would appear that
the anal fin on the right side of his body has shrunk or curled up
(there is something there but it is very thin and curled up not spread
like normal). Mr. Kiko is using his head and pectoral fins a lot to
maneuver himself about. <<It sounds like there's something
going on internally to me, Victoria. The "dropsy" appearance
of Mr. Kiko suggests either an internal parasitic or bacterial
infection, both of which could be compounding the gas bubble
condition.>> I have added some Epsom salts and placed an air
stone in the tank. With the air stone and the Bio-Orb filter
going, the current seemed a bit much for him so I have decided to shut
the Bi-Orb filter down for half of the day just to let him ease into
it. I will turn it back on tonight to avoid the possibility
of toxics building up. <<Please do keep up with the filtration.
Consistently good water conditions are going to be paramount.>> I
also had my water checked again today. They tested for
Nitrate, pH, Ammonia and Salt. Nitrate and Ammonia were
fine, '0' they said, pH a perfect 7.2. Only the salt
was high 350ppm vs. a desired 250ppm but I assume that this may be
attributed to me adding Epsom salt the night before. <<A small
water change should bring the salinity back into line.>> After a
couple of hours with only the air stone going, he seems to be
struggling with swimming and is bobbing around in the new currents a
lot. If I remove the air stone (so no bubble action at all)
he lays upside down on the bottom of the tank. No sign of
'deflation' yet but assume this will take a while. I
will fast him again for the next few days and let you know how it goes.
<<At this point, I'm going to recommend that you treat him
with Metronidazole, preferably in the form of a medicated food,
following the fasting period. I don't believe that this is strictly
a case of Gas Bubble Disease that we're dealing with. In fact, the
GBD may be a secondary issue. If possible, I would also recommend that
you raise the tank temperature to about 27 degrees C. (80 F.) in order
to elevate your pet's metabolism. During this time, you should keep
the tank well-aerated. Keep the salinity at about the 250 ppm
that's been recommended and keep him moving. We don't want to
bash him around the tank but laying on the bottom, upside down is not
what we're looking for.>> Thank you very much again for
providing such a kind and helpful service!! <<Good luck to you,
Victoria. My personal thanks for caring so much for your pet.>>
Victoria <<Tom>>

My Goldfish is Sick, with a Disease I Can't
Pinpoint - 5/8/2006 Hello, I'm
very concerned about one of my goldfish. I have a 10 gallon
tank with 4 very small goldfish and one larger one, all
comets. <Need more room...> The larger one is about
2.5 inches in length. Over the last week or so, I have
noticed a change in both his physical appearance and
behavior. I noticed that he seemed thinner and slightly more
passive. I didn't assume anything wrong and left him
be. Soon, I noted small brownish-black scales, only a few,
and my first guess was that he had damaged some scales and they were
regrowing. <Environmental...> The next day, he went under a
dramatic change. He folds his fins in and tight to his body,
and he lays on his side on the bottom of my tank. I poked
him with my net, and he got up to struggle a few stokes of his fins,
and sink back to the ground, and within minutes, fell to his side
again. I tried feeding, but he doesn't seem
interested. The other fish seem bubbly as
ever. He's been like this for three days now, though he
doesn't seem to be worsening or getting better. He's
breathing, but I'm not sure how much longer he will make
it. I'm not sure or aware of any treatment methods or
water testings, but I'd really like for my fish to be
okay. I've had him for several years now, and I
don't want him to die. It doesn't seem to be
bloating, Ick, dropsy, lice or parasites, but I don't know what to
do. Thank you for your time. ~Marisa <Please read here:
http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/gldfshsystems.htm
and the linked files above... Bob Fenner>

Re: Fins turning black on orange fantails - 5/5/2006 <<Tom here, Chris.>> I would like
to thank you for your very prompt and very helpful
response. The fish have now returned to their normal colour
after regular water changes (and a reduction in feeding) and appear to
be very happy. <<I'm very happy for both you and your pets,
Chris.>> With many thanks, Chris <<You're most welcome
and continued good luck to you. Tom>>

Goldfish Disease -
05/05/2006<<Don't know who answered this, no
sig. Crewmembers, please remember to leave your name, so we can
all be proud of you!! -SCF>> Hi I have a sick goldfish,
and its really stumping me as to what is wrong with him! He has
been happily living in a 70 litre tanks with 2 other goldfish and 4
minnows. I perform a 10% weekly, and a 25% monthly, with weekly checks
of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and PH. all levels are normal, with the PH
at 7.0. the tanks has been running about 6 months. About a week
ago we noticed him behaving a little strangely. His tail fin has been
ragged for a few weeks, but with no sign of fin rot. However a week ago
he began just hovering about 3/4s up the tank, and not really swimming
around and he had a clamped dorsal fin, whilst the others were being
gannets and trawling the bottom of the tank. Wednesday, he was sitting
at the bottom of the tank, just after feeding. We took him out and
placed him in a hospital tank with some disease safe solution added to
the water. I did some research on your site, and saw that flukes could
be a possible reason. I bought some Methylene blue, and he has been in
this for 4 days now with no real improvement. I am going to try a salt
bath tomorrow to see if that will help. <Barring water quality,
which is always the first concern of a good aquarist, I would suspect
flukes as well with those symptoms. Look for medications
containing Praziquantel, good treatment for various parasites that is
much more comfortable for the patient than many of the
alternatives. Many folks recommend formaldehyde/formalin
meds for flukes, but those tend to kill the fish as well as the
flukes.> His diet has been varied, with a combination of bloodworm,
spinach, mixed veggie food and Daphnia (all frozen). the others are
fine on the diet. <Probably good, reserve the bloodworms in
particular for an occasionally treat and only when you are sure no one
in the tank is constipated.> Any advice, clues,
that you can offer would be appreciated. no book has gotten me closer
to a solution, and I don't want the little fellow to go to the
goldfish bowl in the sky! Thanks in advance, -Paula

Re: *sigh* MORE problems... Anchorworm, using WWM -
05/05/2006 Yes, I did send this email a while ago, but it was never
answered.... mail problems? <Sounds like it> Anyway, the day
after this was sent, I noticed small *worms* on my fish. I looked them
up, and saw that they were anchor worms. I decided that infection from
the worms' bite-things was causing the red/white bumps. <Not
uncommon in "pond-raised" fishes> I still have the
lethargy problem... ANOTHER fish died in the same way as the others. I
treated the WHOLE pond for the worms, with "Parasite Guard"
(which is made for ponds... in largish bottles, for treating bigger
amounts of water than aquariums...)
<<ACTIVE INGRED: sodium chloride, metronidazole. and
acriflavine.>> Now I need to treat the supposed infection from
the anchor worms, along with the lethargy, the thought cause of which
was supposed to be treated with the parasite guard. Please help my
fish, Alison <Mmm, Fluke Tabs, Clout... a few other products have
the organophosphate DTHP or Dimilin is what you're looking for...
all posted on WWM... use the Google Search tool for
"Anchorworm" Bob Fenner>

Goldfish Getting Lazy - 05/05/2006 Hello, I was
wondering if you could help me. I have a 9" long
goldfish that was won at a fair about 3 years ago in a 55 gallon
tank. He has always been healthy, until about 3 days
ago. I noticed that he has been laying around at the bottom
of his tank and won't eat. I tried doing a 50% water
change and changed his food. But this morning he is still
laying at the bottom and not eating. When I was cleaning his
filter, I also noticed one scale in it. But when I looked very
carefully at him, I was unable to see where it could have come
from. He still has his beautiful orange, black and
silver. Do you have any suggestions? Thank you.
-Lucy < This could be the beginning of an internal bacterial
infection. Do a 50% water change, vacuum the gravel, clean the filter
and treat with Metronidazole.-Chuck>

Bumps On Fantail. Help Please!!
5/4/06 Hello. <Howdy> A week
ago I bought two small fantails from my local Wal-Mart. I observed them
in the tank for quite some time, and after deciding that they seemed
healthy and free of disease, brought them home. They've been fine.
Phantom, my white one, is still perfectly normal, but Nexxus, the
orange one has developed small white nodules on him. (They almost look
like pimples.) There is one right where his fin connects to the back of
his head, two side by side above his eyes, and one on his side, where
his tail connects to his body. They aren't protruding very much at
all, but they've just kind of popped up in the course of two days.
Nexxus seems fine. He swims around very happily and is active, he eats
well. He doesn't show any signs of illness or of being lethargic.
He behaves just as Phantom does. Perfectly fine. I'm confused as to
what these pimple-like bumps are. And would like some information and
some insight as to what I should do if they are a sign of a parasite or
illness or something. I'd like to catch it early if it is something
serious. Thanks! Nexxus and I will be waiting for your response!
<... What re your set-up, water quality? These markings are very
likely "environmental" (not pathogenic) in nature. Please
read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/gldfshsystems.htm and
the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

Re: Painted Fish - 05/03/2006 env. dis FW, goldfish
dis. Thanks for this. I had to go away for the weekend for a family
obligation which I was quite late to after the water change and plant
wash down! I put a new carbon pad in the filter (sandwiched
with the other pads). I also fed the goldfish some peas before leaving,
with the thought that it would help speed through any paint they ate.
<Sounds good.> Now I'm back, did another big water change
(about 40%), surface clean up, plant rinsing and so on. The water looks
much better and all levels are good. I also hosed down the whole yard
to get rid of lingering paint dust. <Great!> Three of the fish
look fine, even with their lingering paint spots. The fourth looks
terrible. He is emaciated, won't eat, and is swimming only using
his body and tail fin; his side and dorsal fins are clamped. He spends
most of the time at the surface, which is normally his habit anyway,
but not to this extent. When I came home, he was nestled in the water
hyacinth and I thought he was dead but he moved a little (not much)
when I poked him. After the latest water change, he just swims at the
surface and stays where there is a current from the filter so he
remains in place. (There is a little current that runs diagonally
across the center of the barrel, but it's mostly calm water so the
fish don't have to work all the time.) Any ideas on how
to help him? <Unfortunately, no.... You've done all I
would recommend. At this point, I'd pull him into a
quarantine system.> Hopefully the idiot neighbor is done with this
nonsense, because neither I nor the building inspector was particularly
amused by this incident. <I can imagine! Yikes!> After
I wrote to you, he not only continued sanding, but decided to clean up
the paint debris with a leaf blower, which blew giant clouds of paint
chips all over the neighborhood! <ARGH!> Fortunately I was still
home, and threw a tarp over the barrel. <Thank goodness.> Linda
<Good luck with this, Linda! Wishing you
well, -Sabrina>
Painted Fish - III - 05/03/2006
Never mind. He didn't make it -- I just found him floating. <I
am so sorry to hear this....> The other fish still look fine but now
I'm worried about them. <I would keep doing as you have
been.... Get all that you can out of there and hope for the
best. Maintain optimal water quality,
nutrition.... And, not that I'm recommending this (I
don't recommend it in fact), I would probably give the neighbor a
piece of my mind, especially if the pond is an "obvious" part
of your space.> Linda <All the best to
you, -Sabrina>

Goldfish with suspected tumor 5/4/06
Hello, <<Hi. Tom with you.>> I hope you can advise me.
The Summer before last, we put both our goldfish outside for two
months. When we brought them back in we noticed that the larger
one, Ariel, had some white lumps on her side and gill. I thought at
first that it might be a wound/tissue damage, as she also had some
scales missing. I tried salt treatment with the dosage at two large
teaspoons per four pints, but this didn't seem to have any
effect. As the lumps didn't spread to the other fish, her
behaviour was normal, and she was eating fine, I decided that she
was probably Ok, although I hated to see such a beautiful fish with
ugly lumps. <<None of us do, Briony. For what it's worth,
the salt treatment was a good call at the time.>> Now,
though, my mom thinks that the lump on Ariel's gill has got
bigger, although she also thinks that the ones on her side are
smaller. <<This can/does happen.>> I was thinking that
it might be a tumour, and wondered what you think (links to
pictures below). I was particularly concerned about the lump on her
gill, although it doesn't seem to be affecting her at present.
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g148/Ampharos64/Goldfish001.jpghttp://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g148/Ampharos64/Goldfish005.jpghttp://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g148/Ampharos64/Goldfish007.jpg
Thank you, Briony <<I've looked at the pictures
you've forwarded and these do, indeed, appear to be tumors.
I'd prefer to forward these to Bob, however, and let him have a
look. Tom>> <Please see WWM via the Google search tool,
using the term: "Goldfish tumor" and view the cached
version to highlight the key terms. RMF>

Re: Goldfish with suspected tumor - 05/13/2006 Thank you very much for your help. I'm
glad to know that it is a tumour, even though there's not a lot I
can do. I'll just hope for the best and keep an eye out for any
secondary infections. Thanks again, Briony <<Best of luck to you,
Briony. Tom>>

Are my goldfish unwell? Are you
reading? 5/3/06 Hi crew! <Mercedes> I'm
about 2 months in to starting up my new aquarium (10 gallons with 2
common goldfish). I know the rule about one goldfish to 10 gallons so
for that reason I change the water every 4-5 days to keep the ammonia
levels down. <Not all the water I hope/trust> The only problem is
the pH level in my area where I live is quite high so each time I
change the water the pH goes up to about 8 and I don't know what to
do! <Read: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwph,alk.htm
and http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwh2ochgs.htm
and the linked files above> My goldfish seem fine in terms of
behaviour, but I have noticed that tiny little red dots on their bodies
that form a line, and one has lost some scales on the side of it body.
Does this have something to do with it? <Yes... your fish are overly
stressed... environmentally... Read: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/gldfshsystems.htm
and the........... Bob Fenner> Thank you Mercedes

Goldfish w/clear poop 5/3/06
Greetings- Been reading your website- very impressive. Wondering if you
can help me. New to the goldfish game. Have a 5 gallon tank and 2 baby
fancy goldfish (1 Â½' long each). <This is too
crowded...> Tank is 10 days old. I do a 20%
water change every other day and add 1t aquarium salt to the water,
which I leave overnight to dissipate chemicals, then add over the
course of an hour (local fish store had suggested 2T salt per 5
gallon)'¦ I plan on changing water like that for 6 weeks until
tank 'established'. <Isn't cycled thus far I take it...
not good> Fish seem happy- fins up and swimming around, body color
and quality seem good. Fish eat flake food once a day.
<Need more than this... type, frequency> Concern is, one fish
seems to have normal poop ( Â½' long and orange- same
color as food), the other fish has very long, thin, clear poop (like 3
pieces of 1-2'). Not sure how to help fish with the
clear poop. Any thoughts? <Posted...> Again,
appreciate your help. You seem thoroughly informed. -Deb
<Do read over WWM re... consider ancillary means to establish
bio-geo-chemical cycling, better nutrition... the clear poop may be
nothing more than resultant from present food, environmental stress. I
would do "nothing" medicine-wise to treat this. Improving the
env., nutr. will likely "do it" here. Bob Fenner>

Re: Bubble Eye Goldfish, please
help......... 5/2/06 Hi Bob, Thanks for helping
out. My Bubble Eye Fish's eye is still swollen and has a
slight reddish tint to it. <These challenges take a while to
resolve... sometimes months...> I am still treating with Epsom and
Aquarium salts only. I upped the Epsom dosage to see if that
will help. After a 6 day treatment of Maracyn-Two with water
changes in between. (Directions said no water changes during, but the
water was horrible and he started getting what I thought to be ammonia
burns, so I changed the water) <Good> Now I do water
changes almost daily to keep water crystal clean. Do I
continue to salt, or should I try another antibiotic? <I would just
try good water quality and nutrition from here on out> If so what
kind would you suggest that can be mixed with Epsom and Aquarium salt
that is still in the water? I don't suppose salt
dissipates? <No... some will/does leave solution via spray... but
little, slowly> He is still eating and swimming normal.
Thanks so much, Shannon <Bob Fenner>

Goldfish, Regained Health, Further Problems -
05/01/2006 Hi, my goldfish Pinky is cured of dropsy, (thank you),
<Ah, good!> but now I have another problem. There is a small bump
underneath its stomach, and I have no idea what it is or where it came
from. <Where is this bump? Is it possibly the fish's
anus?> There's a small, but almost unnoticeable white thread
hanging from the bump. Do you have any idea what it can be? <If the
bump is just before the fish's anal fin, it's probably just
it's anus.... and the white thread may be feces; if
clearish, it may be an indicator of internal parasites, which can
possibly be the cause of dropsical symptoms. Of course, it
could be something entirely different; maybe a Lernaea/Anchorworm
parasite, maybe just a small wound or irritation with a tiny bit of
skin scratched loose. Without seeing it, or having a very
detailed description, there's not a lot I can guess at.>
That's about the only way I can describe it. <If the bump is
still present and unimproved, it will help to know where on the fish it
is.> Thanks, Melyssa <Wishing you and Pinky
well, -Sabrina>

Fantail sick? 5/2/06
<<Hi, Nicole. Tom>> Fantail sick? <<We hope
not...>> I have two fantails and one of them has black marks on
his fin on top of his head and a little black on his tail. He seems to
be doing all right, but wanted to know what he has. Can it be fungal?
<<Not likely, Nicole. A fungal infection usually takes on the
appearance of "cotton". I'd say that your fish has scabs
that are in the process of healing.>> The other fish I'm
concerned about because I've noticed that a little bit of his
scales have flaked off and he will stay at the bottom for a short
period of time and then start swimming again, but isn't as active
as the other fish. Is he sick? <<Hard to tell. He's possibly
stressed due to...? The problem here is that you don't give us a
lot of information to work with. What size is the aquarium? What are
the water conditions, i.e. ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels? What
kind of filtration system do you have? What do you feed your fish? What
kind of decorations, plants or substrate (gravel) do you have in the
tank? How long has the aquarium been "set up"? Lots of
questions but they all help us to help you and, your fish.
Tom>>

What killed my Oranda? 4/30/06
<<Tom with you today.>> I had a Oranda goldfish in 2000
gallon pond that died yesterday. <<Very sorry to hear about the
loss of your pet, Shannon.>> So sad. 4 days ago I noticed his
right bottom fin was totally black. I treated pond with
Melafix for 5 days, in case other fish were sick. He was
still eating. Yesterday I went to feed and noticed he was
almost dead. When I tried to pull him out I noticed he swam
away slowly with a huge bulge on his right side, and underneath bulge
side was sunken in. It was very frightening to look at. I
pulled him out and immediately tried to put him in salt water, MelaFix
and PimaFix. (All I had on hand). He died within
30 min. After I cried....(had him for 4 years) I also
noticed what I thought was some kind of white parasite-looking
"claw" thing coming from his underside. Almost
looked as if it was a claw sticking out him below his
anus. I looked closer and I (think) it was just totally
shredded anus fin...All other fins were fine. I also noticed
I could see black through his skin (like dark blood) on his back.
<<An "educated" guess would be that what you saw was,
indeed, blood.>> It is hard to describe, I'm sorry, but does
any of this sound familiar? What could that huge bulge be?
<<What you've described does sound familiar unfortunately.
Acute septicemia (blood poisoning). The bulge you saw on your fish was
likely one, or more, internal organs that had been traumatized by the
infection causing internal hemorrhaging, hence the swelling, darkened
fin and discoloration along the animal's back. This, at least,
would be my call based on what you've shared and is consistent with
the symptoms your Oranda displayed.>> I fear if it is contagious
to other fish? <<Unless your Oranda was recently
introduced to the pond, there's little chance that it was exposed
to anything to which your other fish haven't also been exposed.
Keep a close eye on your other fish and be on the lookout for red spots
on the bodies and/or red streaking in the fins. These are typically the
first signs of the infection. Water quality can be problematic in some
cases but antibiotic treatment may be required. The main thing is to
act quickly upon any sign.>> Any thoughts.....Thanks! <<I
hope this has been of some help, Shannon. Tom>>
Re: What killed my Oranda? (Tom) 5/2/06 Thank
you, Tom, very much for info... <<Happy to help, Shannon, even
with an admittedly limited amount of information.>> If I do
notice red spots on my pond fish, what antibiotic do you suggest in
treating the entire pond? <<This would not be
recommended for several reasons. First, once the bacteria responsible
for the disease has affected a given fish, treating the water is
unlikely to be successful. (FW fish don't "drink" water
like their SW counterparts and, to be effective, the medication must
get into the fish's system.) Additionally, it would prove
detrimental to your system (pond) since the medication will invariably
destroy the beneficial bacteria responsible for controlling ammonia and
nitrites. Second, septicemia is an "effect" rather than a
"cause". By that, I mean that your Oranda was likely stressed
which led to its susceptibility to the infection. A healthy fish
isn't prone to this infection and it would be ill-advised to
subject a healthy animal, i.e. your other fish, to any medication.
Doing so can actually bring stress on, which can do more damage than
good. Third, while "ponds" are certainly not my area, I know
that this time of the year can present conditions that are not optimum
for Koi/Goldfish given the cooler temperatures they live with. Immune
systems in fish are elevated at higher temperatures, even for fish that
prefer "cold" water (as opposed to Tropicals). In pond
systems, the conditions generally correct themselves as the season
progresses without "human" involvement.>> Note: I do
have 2 large frogs and several snails, and lots of plants. I
have a light colored goldfish with red spots and solid red eyes, maybe
it is septicemia (blood poisoning) you told me
about. Someone told me he was just an Albino fish and his
look sounded normal. But the blood red looking eyes have me
concerned. He is still eating normally. Any
thoughts? <<Yes. Loss of appetite is an indicator of a sick, or
stressed, fish. A fish eating "normally" is, almost always, a
good sign. One of the first we look for, in fact. I understand your
concern, though. Keep an eye on his physical
condition/behavior.>> Thanks! <<You're welcome,
Shannon. Tom>>

Lethargic goldfish hanging around vertically 4/30/06 Hi. <<Hello, Linda. Tom>>
I've been reading through some of the posts, and I don't see
anything about this. I've had two common goldfish (the
kind given away at carnivals and such) for about 7
years. One is golden orange, and the other is almost all
white. They have been doing very well (except for a few
bouts of high nitrates) in a 25-gallon tank with a TopFin 40 filter, a
six-inch airstone, and a lot of frilly live
plants. They've grown to about a foot long
each. I hang a Nitrazorb packet under the flow from the
filter to counteract the nitrates. I also replace about 5 or 6 gallons
of water every week or two and replace the filter about once a
month. I feed them BioBlend goldfish food twice a day.
<<First of all, congratulations on your fishkeeping skills.
Generally, I would recommend a tank twice the size of yours for two
fish of this size which speaks well of the care you've given your
pets. That said, there's something here that caught my attention.
When you say that you "replace" the filter about once a
month, I normally advise against this opting, rather, to
"clean" the media in used tank water to preserve the
beneficial bacteria contained in the filter media. Replacing the media
outright requires re-seeding the filter with the bio-colonies needed to
maintain optimum water conditions and can lead to spikes in ammonia,
nitrite and nitrate levels, if only over a short period of
time.>> Whitey often gets red spots and streaks and becomes
lethargic - just hanging around vertically, nose up, swimming around a
few seconds occasionally (especially after a nudge by Goldie) and then
returning to the vertical hang. I've found that using
StressZyme usually clears up those symptoms. But after
I've used it a few days, and Whitey is doing fine, Goldie starts
hanging around vertically instead. This has gone back and
forth several times over the past year. Although it's
not hindering their appetites, I'm assuming the lethargy (and the
red spots and streaks) means they are not feeling
well. Unfortunately, I can't seem to make them both
happy at the same time. <<You don't include specific water
condition readings with your posting and these are always important to
us when trying to help with problems. Because of the
"legendary" hardiness of Goldfish, I suspect that you're
experiencing water quality variances that have, within the last year,
begun to display themselves. What you describe is almost certainly
bacterial hemorrhagic septicemia which is being "cleared up"
temporarily by the addition of the water conditioner. Commonly this
situation is caused by organics in the water and might easily be
expected given the size of your fish in a 25-gallon tank. I would
suggest that you stick with 20% water changes each week and clean your
filter media rather than replacing it.>> Any suggestions would be
welcome. Thanks. <<Hope this helps, Linda. Tom>>

Black moor has spots 4/30/06
Greetings from Maine, <Hello from California.> I apologize if you
have already answered this question. I have searched your site (and
many others) but have not been able to find a description that matches
my problem. I have a black moor that has developed rust
colored spots. It looks like she was sprinkled with bleach. The spots
are flat and irregular shaped. They are on her body and
fins. <The first thing that comes to mind is
Oodinium/"Velvet", as this can look a bit
"rusty".> It appeared suddenly and she had been eating and
acting normal. Her tank mates show no symptoms. I tested the tank water
and the results were fine. To be safe, I took a sample to my local pet
store for testing and again the results were fine. There have been no
additions to the tank, no change in food, water quality is fine. I have
no idea what this could be. The pet store advised to treat
the tank with Maracyn2. I treated the tank last night per
their instruction. This morning, she seems less active and less social
than normal. She is in a 40 gallon tank with 3 small
Ryukins. She is approx 5 inches long and a beautiful girl. Please help
me get her well again. Thank you in advance for your
attention!!!! <As I said, my first gut reaction is that it might be
Oodinium. This is a protozoan parasite that can possibly be
treated by Ich medication like Rid-Ich, as long as you don't have
any delicate or scaleless fish in the tank. If you can get
an image of the sick fish, that might help in getting a slightly more
confident diagnosis. All the best to
you, -Sabrina>
Spotty Moor - II - 05/01/2006 Sabrina, Thank you
so much for your reply. <Glad to be of service, Sonja.> I will
try to get a photo of her so you can see better what I am talking
about. <That's always a huge help.> Have you ever splashed
bleach on black clothing and the spot turns a sort of orangey color?
Well that is exactly what she looks like. <Ahhhh, I understand
now. Not to worry, this is very likely a normal color
change.> The spots do not seem to get bigger and are not changing.
<They may get bigger, or the entire fish may change to this brassy
orange color.> She is behaving normally and eating
well. Her tank mates are not affected. <I
would not be concerned. Many/most moors "lighten
up" with age; some even turn a bright orange.> I am wondering
if this could be a nutritional problem that is triggering the color
change. <Do please check out our article on Goldfish
(mal) Nutrition.> Again, thank you for helping me out
here. I would feel horrible if something happened to her
because I was not doing the right thing. <Not to worry, color
changes are very common in many goldfish, especially black moors.>
Never thought I would get this attached to a goldfish. <Pretty easy
to fall in love with those little mugs, isn't it?> Sonja <All
the best to you and your moor, -Sabrina>

Re: Bob F: Another goldfish woe - 04/27/06
Well - hi bob- Yet Another goldfish woe. Past correspondence below. Our
last letter was in reference to Rupert acting funny-Floating in one
spot. You suggest it was from the "Ich treatment" so I
changed the filter and kept up on water changes and he seemed fine all
over again- once again all was happy.(yay) My new problem (boo) I went
away over the weekend to Chicago- before I left I started to notice
marlin swimming to the surface more often and hanging out there
breathing. I checked Ammonia- yellow 00 ph in-between-
blue 7.2/7.6 nitrate- a color in between 0-20
(safe zone) nitrite- a color in between 0-.5 (safe zone) I have- 20
gallon tank- whisper filter- an aerator on high- (
Aristech=2ko is it not enough?) - tank has been up and running since
march so I think it's definitely cycled by now. Only Marlin was
Acting like this- not Rupert- I have noticed Rupert being
Extra aggressive towards marlin during feeding time- chasing after his
butt. Another note-I bought a new plant and added it to the tank along
with the elodea I already had- I believe it's
Myriophyllum- looks like this http://www.killlakeweeds.com/products/milfoil.gif
<Yep> I figure this way I can go away for a bit and not worry
about feeding them. When I got back from Chicago (away for 3 nights)-
It seems like they may have been fighting more often. I noticed a
couple of the plants had been up rooted- Rupert had a slight rip in his
tail- marlins fin (under his fancy tail) is sticking out to the side a
bit. Now marlin is the one staying in one spot having a bit of trouble
swimming- Even laying on the ground of the tank! I know this is bad and
have seen it many times on your site.. except everyone else seems to
write about this problem only in reference to bad water conditions or
cycling problems. My levels seem fine. Does he have swimbladder from
fighting or stress? What can I do to help or stop this fighting- not to
mention help him get better? <Can't tell> As always all your
help is extremely appreciated. Mike <Not much to do, or that can be
done here. Bob Fenner>
Re: Bob F: Another goldfish Woah! 4/28/06 Marlin died
yesterday! Really fast. I don't understand- he just sank to the
bottom- it seemed like it happened in a day. Now even Rupert is
swimming erratically rubbing up against everything searching
desperately for food, swimming oddly. Did they get some sort of
parasite from the new plant? <Doubtful Is there anything I can do?
If he has a fluke or something I don't want to use a another
medicine only a couple weeks after the Ich treatment. How would one
perform a salt dip- is this even the right thing? I just don't know
what to do- if Rupert dies too I'll just feel terrible.. :-( mike
<As stated before... nothing suggested to do. Whatever the root
cause/s here... genetic, the previous med. exposure, there is nothing
definitive that would likely be of help. Bob Fenner>

Mesmerized Goldies... poisoned 4/26/06
Hey Crew, <Christopher> I changed my tank water after discovering
that the ammonia levels were way too high. Prior to this, the boys swam
around like maniacs, munching down each others offerings &
generally looking like they were having a good time. I checked the
water parameters (Temp = 68, 0 ppm for NO2, NO3, pH @ 7.4, ammonia @
4.0 ppm that I brought down to 0.50 - 1.0 ppm. <Still deadly
toxic> The end result is that now the boys spend a good part of the
day either at the bottom, transfixed to the end of the tank opposite
the filter. I stopped feeding them, <Good> & they seem a bit
"stoned." They respond to tank tapping, come up for food that
I won't give them. It just seems a little weird. Thoughts? --
Christopher A. Jourat <Your fish may recover... should take a few
weeks... Ammonia needs to be zero, zip, nada... Read on WWM re cycling:
http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwestcycling.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>
Re: Mesmerized Goldies...
ammonia poisoned - 04/27/06 Thanks for the response.
here's the update (oh joy!) So I flushed the tank completely,
<... not a good idea to make such wholesale changes> but still
have a level btwn 0.25 & 0.50 Ammonia. Then I got suspicious,
so I tested my tap water
with neutralizer, & it came back 0.25 &
0.50. <Many such dechloraminators can/will give a "false
positive" reading> Then I tested straight from the tap, same
thing. Either my girlfriend & I both have early stage macular
degeneration, or the color panels aren't accurate. Maybe my test
supplies aren't up to snuff. I use Aquarium Pharmaceuticals with
test tubes & ammonia liquid test supplies. Something is kind of
hinky here. Either the local water supply is full of ammonia
(scary thought) & the neutralizer doesn't help, <Actually is
likely the source of confusion here> the test supply kit is
"less than," or I should use the tap test-color as my
baseline & work from there. <Yes> After the tank flush, the
tap test & the tank test were exactly the same. Next step,
neutralizer for the ammonia. It has been suggested that I purchase
Stress-Zyme to accelerate tank nitro-cycle setup, <Won't do
this> Ammo-Lock, Ammo-Carb, &/or Ammo-Chips for ammonia
sequestration, all by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. I know this leads to
NO2-NO3 conversion (o ppm for both now w/ pH @ 7.4) - is this a bad
idea? Or do I flush instead? <Better to cycle the
system. Please read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwestcycling.htm
and the linked files at top. Bob Fenner> Chris Jourat

Fancy goldfish that started swimming upside
down 4/25/06 I have a Fancy goldfish that started
swimming upside down. This started around the beginning of the new
year. with in a week his abdomen began to swell on the right side of
his abdomen. It has gotten to the size of a small marble. He attempts
to eat and seems to get some food. He is in a 25 gallon tank with 2
other goldfish an Oranda and a red butterfly, all are about 3 inches
long. Does he have a bad case of constipation and what can I do about
it. Thanks for your help!!!! <... please
read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/gldfshmalnut.htm and the
linked files above. Not enough info. presented to be more specific
here. Bob Fenner>

Lonely Comet... lost Elvis hit
title? 4/25/06 Good Evening to All from Denise
and Josh in Seattle, WA. <Howdy from BobF in overcast southern
Cal.> We recently purchased 2 small comets (1 1/2 in. each, tip of
head to tip of tail) at our local Petco and they stated that our 2 1/2
gal tank would be a safe size for our new pets. <Uh, no> After
reading your site I see that is not correct and we need to correct
this. My question is after acclimating them to their new
home, Marbles died. <Lost... couldn't help myself> I had the
store do a water check and all checked out. <Samples of such change
with time, travel...> It was explained that perhaps
Marbles was confused by the type of food (flake) but Jimmy has no
problem eating (once a day as advised). <"Jimmy don't lose
that..." Again, mis-information> We did not want
Jimmy to be lonely so we purchased Maynard. They did well
and stayed very close together for 3 days until I noticed Maynard
<"Work!" Shades of Dobie Gillis> pushing and nudging
Jimmy from behind, trying to nibble (no missing scales) and chasing
him. I put Maynard in a separate tank and now Jimmy seems
frantic! He is eating well but seems to either hide in the
plants, behind the filter, or darting around in a
frenzy. Could he miss his more aggressive
counterpart? Should I try to put Maynard back
in? Jimmy is only slightly smaller but I don't want him
to get hurt. Again, Jimmy's water checks out well in the
normal range. Any help will be very much appreciated! Thank
You! Denise and Josh <Have just skipped down. Your problem/s here
are mostly environmental, this system is uncycled, unable to be made
stable due to size, substrate, filtration/lack thereof... Please
re/read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/gldfshsystems.htm And
the linked files above. No "sense" buying/killing more of
these Comets... they will/can only lead short, miserable lives in this
setting. Bob Fenner>

Please help my Lionhead!! -
04/24/2006 I have a Lionhead named Jefferson who has lived with us
for about 4 months. She lives in a 5 1/2 <A bit small, consider
upgrading in the future. Goldfish are messy, and foul the
water quickly. More water means a healthier fish.> gallon
tank equipped with an internal filter of 5 to 10 gallon size. We change
roughly 40% of her water by vacuuming the rocks every week
to 2 weeks. <I would do every week in a tank that
size.> She eats TetraFin goldfish fun food brand floating pellets
supplemented with Hikari Betta Bio-Gold <Too high in
protein. I wouldn't feed this anymore.> and sun dried
Gammarus for her digestion. She has a few floating bunches of elodea
but other than that she is the only person in our tank. The problem is
that this morning she seems to be having real trouble staying at the
level that she wants to be at in the tank. She looks absolutely normal
accept she seems to be too buoyant. She can stay reasonably submerged
by swimming but when she stops she starts rising again. I've tried
gently squeezing her sides as I hear they can have trouble passing
eggs. This did nothing. <You really shouldn't do
this. I have heard of trained professionals helping a fish
to pass blockage, but the risk is extremely high to the fish if this is
not done correctly. Consider that our first reaction if a
human is suffering from some digestive blockage is to look at their
diet, not start squeezing their stomach!> I also tried to feed her
peas but she doesn't like them. <She may not recognize that they
are food. A few days of fasting ought to be enough to change
her mind!> She accepted a Gammarus so she will still eat. I
don't know what to do. Please help me to help Jefferson!! <Most
floaty Goldfish are this way due to inappropriate diet. Low
quality flake foods and high protein foods are especially bad for your
fish. They cause intestinal blockage to form. The
closest wild relatives of Goldfish enjoy a variety of plants
supplemented by surface insects. You need to change your
pet's diet, right after you fast the fish for a 3 to 5
days. 1 TBSP / 5 GAL Epsom Salt (you can find it at your
local Pharmacy) may help your pet pass the blockage. Here is
WWM article on this topic: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/gldfshmalnut.htm
Good luck! Jason N.>

Dropsical Goldfish, Nutrition Issue? - 04/24/2006
Hi how are you? <I'm good, Melyssa, thank you.> I have 2
black moors,2 Orandas(1 redcap), and a calico. One of my Orandas has
gotten dropsy. <Mm, "dropsy" is actually a collection of
symptoms that may be related to a handful of things....> The scales
started sticking out and it looks like a Pearlscale. I put Maracyn two,
spiked up the temperature and added some salt to the tank. <I would
strongly recommend reading here first: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/gldfshmalnut.htm
. If after a few days of following the suggestions in that
link the animal's scales are still sticking out, I would recommend
trying a medicated food, medicated with an antibiotic like Kanamycin or
Oxytetracycline.> Before it used to stay in the corner all by
itself, but on the second day its swimming around and does not look
lethargic. Is there any hope for Pinky? <Quite
possibly. Check your water for ammonia, nitrite, and
nitrate; make sure ammonia and nitrite are ZERO, nitrate less than
20ppm, with water changes.> I heard that dropsy is one of the
hardest diseases to treat. <Mm, again, dropsy is a
collection of symptoms; this may be simple constipation (easy to treat)
or an internal bacterial infection (very difficult to treat), or a few
other possibilities.> - Melyssa, 15 <I hope for the best for
Pinky. Wishing you well, -Sabrina>

Strange spots on my goldfish - 4/24/2006
Hello to all the comprising members of the WWM crew. I sent a couple of
e-mails last week (they were titled "Sunken Eyes Frantic
Breathing") concerning some pH problems and the unfortunate death
of a couple of my beloved Goldfish. <Yes, I recall seeing> I was
able to solve those problems from the advice given to me by Tom and Mr.
Fenner. Today I found Pluto, my small Pleco, dead in some plastic
plants; his tail looked very deteriorated. He had been fine the day
before and so had his tail. I found my Pearlscale spending lots of time
near the bottom and looking a bit sad in general (all this is very
unusual for him as he is always very active). I noticed that there are
some blackish spots on some of his scales as well. I thought that it
might be ammonia burn; I ran a test of the water and found the ammonia
levels at zero, the nitrites at zero, the pH at 8.5. <Too
high...> Tom recommended that I remove the carbon and the
ammonia-reducing inserts from my hang-on filter and I think it has been
very helpful to my fish. I also gradually lowered the temperature from
79 to a bit below 75. There is only a sponge insert and the ceramic
pellets for the beneficial bacteria inside the filter now. The Ryukin
still once in a while does a few seconds of wild swimming and a bit of
scratching. The Ryukin and Lionhead are missing at most 3 scales each.
I bought a nitrate testing kit this evening but I am not at my place so
I haven't tested. The details of diet and size of tank are included
in the e-mails I mentioned above. If you need those details again,
please let me know. I adore these fish; I appreciate all the advice you
can give me to keep them healthy and happy. Thank you very much.
---Alfredo Echeverria Ripstein <The coloring difference mentioned is
nothing to worry about... will correct, re-color over time with
improved environment. I would read on WWM re adjusting your pH, sources
for such... through water changes... over time. Bob Fenner> Spots
on Goldfish - Addendum - 4/24/2006 Dear WWM crew, here are
some extra details to the e-mail I sent last night. I did a 50% water
change and checked the nitrates, which are at 5. My Pearlscale is still
looking sort of sad; spending time near the bottom and seems a bit
weak. I am looking forward to saving this guy. Thanks, Alfredo
Echeverria Ripstein <... where, when in doubt, re-read through the
Goldfish Disease et al. FAQs files. Bob Fenner>

Goldfish Stressed After Ich Treatment
Hi, I've had my Ryukin for about 2 months now and he's started
to develop problems in the past week and a half. The water is tested
every two days because where I live (Savannah, GA), the quality is
incredibly poor. Nitrate levels are ok, but the water is
soft, and too high in pH most times, so it is a continual battle to
lower it. Apollo, as he is called, started to get Ich and it was
promptly treated. He was fine for about 3 days then took a
rather bad turn. The area on his head where the Ich first
appeared cleared up, then 3 days later began to turn into black spots.
and they have gotten larger. He has become lethargic, remaining in
corners (or even purposely pushing himself behind the power filter box)
and disinterested in eating and floats near the top of the
tank. At one point he had a problem remaining upright in the
tank and was almost vertical. This happened over one night
one and his activity returned to normal the next day with no other
problems with balance or swimming. However, his top fin is continually
clamped and his feces are excessively long, and appear mucous or white
at times. I've gone to the pet store where I bought him,
and they can't seem to discern what he might have
either. They thought either Swim Bladder, Hole-in-the-Head,
or Hexamita, but the Ich turning into growing black spots threw them
off. No one there seemed to really know a lot about goldfish
diseases. The only thing he will eat are occasionally brine shrimp and
bits of peas, but his normal sinking pellet food he will not touch
anymore. The water is clean and there is sufficient water
flow with the power filter. I'm afraid of simply trying treatments
for fear that it might harm him more than it does any good. I've
done tons of research online about diseases that could afflict him, but
some of the symptoms seem to overlap and I can't get a clear idea
of what he is suffering from, nor do I want to try a treatment thinking
I know what he has and end up making a mistake. Any help would be
greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Cara M. < Do a 50% water change,
vacuum the gravel and clean the filter. Treat with Metronidazole for
internal bacterial infections. When the fish starts to eat again only
feed enough food so that all of it is gone in two minutes once each
day.-Chuck>
Stressed Goldfish II > Apollo is in a 10
gallon tank by himself and is approximately 2 inches long, not
including his tail. And he apparently has an extra fin. I
> wondered if this can cause him to have any problems later on?
< No not really.> The fin in question is
the same as the two small ones under his fan tail. but it is on top of
the fan tail and off to the side slightly, always >
clamped. I never noticed it till today as his swimming
patterns were normal until the Ich infestation that created a domino
effect into > some unknown problems. As well, when I said
"floating at the top" he remains HORIZONTAL (as a normal fish
it), with his dorsal fin exposed to the air above the water level and
only retreats to the bottom when disturbed by movement outside the tank
or vibrations. Thanks again :-) -Cara M. < These
internal bacterial infections can cause gas and lack of mobility. Try
the Metronidazole.-Chuck>

Goldfish With Popeye Hello WWM: Recently my Comet's
eye swelled. I have 15 fish, several Comets, 2 Ryukins, and several
Fancytails. I only have one other fish with a problem and I pretty
much figured out what it was surfing the web. But, this Comet had a
weird eye for awhile then it suddenly flared up. The eye for a
while looked as though it had a crust over part of it. Then one day
this fish started hugging the bottom a day or two after I had added
fresh water. Water softened water, to my 90 gallon tank. I am using
a bio filter with UV light because I had pulled all my fish from
the water garden in the fall and they had been doing marvelously up
till a few weeks ago, when I noticed my Ryukin with bloat from
eating flaked food. When ever I would feed them wheat germ, it
didn't happen, but the fish flakes seemed to cause bloating,
air retainment which caused the fish to buoy to the top of the
aquarium and once in a great while float upside down. It had been
nibbled on and lost almost all of it's tail while it was
in the water garden, but since I brought them in they are doing
better. I had a snake every once in a while and those stupid water
toads in the pond. It was aprox. A 500 gal pond with bio filter UV
light etc. Anyway, the fish seem calm, non-aggressive, easy on each
other etc. The tail grew back, I fed them a mix of Romaine lettuce
and wheat germ, some times flakes mixed lightly in wheat germ. Now
this Comet has a swollen eye. Can you tell me what it looks like?
All my other fish are fine. Thanks Mark from Mason, MI. < Your
fish has pop eye. This is a bacterial infection behind the
fish's eye socket. The bacteria creates a gas that pushes the
eye out of the socket. Treat the fish in a hospital tank with
Metronidazole. Google the WWM page for more info on this
disease.-Chuck>

Goldfish Losing Color/Scales Hi there, You very
kindly advised me last year on looking after my yellow moon crab, who
after your advise is living very happy and doing
well. Please may I pick your brains further. I
have a separate BiOrb tank with 3 goldfish in which I've had for
about two years, They have been in the BiOrb tank for about
2 months after out growing their last tank. They are all quite large
and have being doing well for ages, happy fish swimming and eating
well. Recently I have noticed one of the fish losing his
scales and colouring. He/she is mostly a white/silver
goldfish with red marking on his head and a few on his
body. The colour is disappearing along with the
scales. I've searched the net and not found anything
relevant as to what could be causing this. The other two
fish are fine. Can you give me any advise please Many thanks, Joanna
West Yorks. UK < Goldfish sometimes change color as they grow older
but the loss is probably a bacterial infection. Isolate the fish in a
hospital tank and treat with Nitrofuranace. In an established aquarium
the medication will probably affect the biological filtration so watch
for ammonia spikes.-Chuck>

Old Goldfish In New Aquarium First of all thank
you for the time and effort you put into the website, I find it
reassuring to be able to go there if I have problems with my finned
family members. My question is...I have had a Lionhead Oranda and a
Ryukin for about five years. When I brought them home they were
about 2 inches in length, they are currently around 6 inches. I
had three, but the cat got my female. (Which by the way
successfully mated and spawned, but the surviving spawn got sucked into
the filter when the breeder basket somehow got sideways, another
story...) I have had the fish in a large Chinese fish bowl (the
porcelain ceramic type), with gravel and a bio filter, which they did
quite well in. I did realize that they were getting too large for
their surroundings when I was vacuuming and making water changes twice
a week. So when my birthday came around and my son asked me what
I wanted, I said a new aquarium, being space deprived I thought a
larger hexagon would fit well. I received a 27.5 gallon hexagon
tank. I set it all up using new gravel, plus the gravel and
polished pond stones from the old tank, added silk plants, Anacharis,
conditioned the water, all filtered with a Bio-wheel Power filter
200. Well I placed the fish in last night after running the tank
for 2 days. The Ryukin loves it and swims around enjoying life,
at first I thought uh oh it's too deep! My Lionhead on the
other hand just sits there, but then he did that in his old tank.
I've noticed that the Ryukin every once in a while will go over and
nudge his friend as if to say come on this is great!! He's taken a
few turn arounds in the tank, but still goes back to the same spot and
sits there. His head is quite large and I'm wondering if
it's the weight that is keeping him immobile? I want to add a
couple of more fish, but I'm afraid I may stress him more if I
do. What do you think? Thank you so much for taking the time to
read this and I hope you have some suggestions. Sincerely,
Billierose Stevenot < The stress of moving can have different
affects on fish. It could be the enlarged head but nothing can be done
about that. Could be an internal bacterial infection that has affected
the swim bladder. This can be treated with Metronidazole. Try
medicating, if this gets him up and going again then add new fish after
treatment. If there is no affect then we can assume that the size of
the head is too large and you can add more fish anyway.-Chuck>

Sick goldfish Picture attached - 04/19/06 I have a
sick Shubunkin fish. This is the best picture I could of it. Do you
have any ideas what this is and what I can do for it? Thanks,
Sharon <Put the terms "Goldfish tumor" in the Google
search tool on WWM: http://wetwebmedia.com/index.html and read the
cached versions of the linked files. Bob Fenner>